David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.

29 November 2008

27 November 2008

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22 November 2008

.e=mc2: 103 years later, Einstein's proven rightAFP : 21 Nov 2008PARIS (AFP) — It's taken more than a century, but Einstein's celebrated formula e=mc2 has finally been corroborated, thanks to a heroic computational effort by French, German and Hungarian physicists.

... For those keen to know more: the computations involve "envisioning space and time as part of a four-dimensional crystal lattice, with discrete points spaced along columns and rows."

17 November 2008

."The research scientist in photo C is studying how colours change under the influence of electricity. The telescope-like device can produce all colours of the rainbow by changing the voltage applied to a light beam."

TV MIRRORS “SEE” ONLY ONE COLORPopular MechanicsDecember 1950

Another moment from the conference Out of Bounds: Art, Faith & Spirituality held earlier this year at Monash University (Faculty of Art & Design). In the background a detail of an installation by Domenico de Clario, which included a spectrum of seven fluorescent lights .

16 November 2008

.Local and universal, before and after Boticelli's Primavera, Flora today outside the Hepburn Springs General Store. On her leg is writ, 'Fabulous Flower Festa - this Sat & Sun 10am-4pm'. The town is abundant with visitors come to look at gardens and flowers.

15 November 2008

.Today, as the Global Financial Crisis continues and as many unthinkables are being openly considered, the G20 leaders (Group of 20 advanced and emerging nations) are meeting in Washington to ask, "What do we do now?".

"The summit will have concrete results. You can take this as guaranteed," a senior official of a European G20 country said.

The official said the draft statement contains both a section dealing with the causes of the global credit crisis and an "action plan."

"The action plan will contain several headlines, under which concrete proposals are summarized," the official added. "There is a division between actions which should be taken immediately until March 31st and medium-term actions."